The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th edition of one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,285 km (2,041 mi) race began in Luxembourg with a prologue time trial on 1 July. It reached French soil during stage 4, ending in Paris on 23 July after 21 stages. Often cited as one of the most competitive runnings of the Tour, the race was decided by only eight seconds in favour of Greg LeMond (pictured), the smallest victory margin to date. Laurent Fignon, who was never separated from LeMond by more than fifty-three seconds throughout the event, finished second overall, ahead of defending champion Pedro Delgado. Fignon performed well during the mountain stages to enter the final-day individual time trial with a 50-second advantage. LeMond utilised aerodynamic triathlon tribars to gain an advantage and managed to win the Tour on the last stage. Sean Kelly won the points classification for a record fourth time, while Gert-Jan Theunisse took the King of the Mountains prize.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tour_de_France

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1866:

At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream became the youngest artist and first woman to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue—that of Abraham Lincoln currently in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinnie_Ream

1939:

During an excavation of a ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England, archaeologists discovered a helmet likely belonging to King Rædwald of East Anglia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A6dwald_of_East_Anglia

2001:

At the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Australian Ian Thorpe became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championships. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Thorpe

2010:

In the deadliest air accident in Pakistan's history, Airblue Flight 202 crashed into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, killing all 152 aboard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airblue_Flight_202

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

brawl: 1. (intransitive) To engage in a brawl; to fight or quarrel. 2. (intransitive) To create a disturbance; to complain loudly. 3. (intransitive) Especially of a rapid stream running over stones: to make a loud, confused noise. 4. (transitive) To pour abuse on; to scold. [...] 5. (intransitive, obsolete) To move to and fro, to quiver, to shake. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brawl

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories. In this way it is only too easy to obtain what appears to be overwhelming evidence in favor of a theory which, if approached critically, would have been refuted.   --Karl Popper https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Popper